Pulp-grinder.



J. W. W ALTERS.

PULP GRINDER.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 25, 1010.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

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J. W. WALTERS.

PULP GRINDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1910.

1,088,857, Patented Mar.3,1914,

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PULP GRINDER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1910.

1,088,857, Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

. d OM. 31AM 7 JULIUS WM. WALTERS, 0F GLENS FALLS, NEW YORK.

PULP-GRINDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

Application filed November 25, 1910. Serial No. 594,205.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIUs W. WALTERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glens Falls, in the county of Warren and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pulp-Grinders, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to pulp grinders of that type in which the wood is fed against a rotating grinding instrumentality and reduced to pulp, and has for its object to provide a grinder in which the wood will be automatically fed forward to the grinding instrumentality and reduced to pulp; in which the wood pocket is readily accessible for cleaning and repairs while the machine is in operation; in which the excessive pressure on the shaft bearings of the grinding stone .is neutralized, thus lessening the power necessary to drive the grinder; and in which the use of additional pressure devices or means for forcing the wood against the grinding instrumentality is entirely done away with.

In order that the invention may be clear to those skilled in the art, I have shown in the accompanying drawings one embodiment of my invention, and in said drawings Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a grinder constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a planview of the supporting frame and wood pocket, the grinding stone and cover being removed for clearness of illustration. Fig. 3 is an end view, partly in section, looking from the right of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, like numbers referring to like parts in the several views, 2 denotes the side frames or bed plates of the grinder, which may be mounted on suitable supports (not shown.) J ournaled in suitable hearings on the side plates 2 is the shaft 3 of the grinding stone, cap plates e being provided to hold said shaft securely in its bearings. Mounted on the shaft 3 is the grinding stone 5 of the usual or any suitable construction, and preferably the upper part of the grinding stone 5 is incased in a hood 6 of sheet metal, this hood being provided with a hinged cover 7 which may be thrown back when desired, to permit access to the stone.

'Below the stone 5 is a wood pocket 8, preferably formed of steel or other suitable metal, strongly reinforced by integral ribs thereon, said pocket 8 being pivotally supported by L-shaped fulcrum pins 9, the vertical limbs of which are slidingly mounted, preferably in inclined position, in housings 10 on the side frames 2 of the grinder, and provided at their upper ends with springs 11 held between the ends of housings 10 and adjustable nuts 12 on the ends of the L- shaped fulcrum rods 9, so that the trough 8 is supported on yielding adjustable fulcrums, as shown. It will be noted that the pocket 8 as mounted is capable of two movements, a pivotal. displacement around the horizontal members of the'pins S) as a center and a downward movement in a direction co-inciding with the tilt of the slidingly mounted vertical limbs of the fulcrum pins. The said pivotally mounted trough or pocket 8 suspended in this manner, forms an eccentric wood-receiving cavity in which the stone runs, which pocket, because of the fact that its points of suspension are eccentric to its vertical center, has a slight pivotal displacement around the fulcrum pins 9 as a center and tends-to swing upwardly toward the stone. As the wood is forced into the cavity of the trough by the rotating stone, this tendency to hug the stone is increased and the wood is held normally in intimate grinding contact therewith. In order to maintain said pocket 8 in substantially the position shown in Fig. l, the end of said pocket bears against a resistance bar 13 hung from suitable supports 14, carried by the side frames 2, the said supports 14: being pivoted to permit an angular adjustment of the resistance bar 13, adjusting bolts 15 being provided by means of which the resistance bar may be moved angularly in order to allow for adjustment of the pocket 8 relative to the grinding stone.

The pocket 8 swings freely on the fulcrum pins 9 between the side frames 2, but is yieldin 'ly supported at its end by a crossbar 16 hung from sprin rods 17 on the side frames 2, the said cross-bar 16 having rollers 18 which permit limited rocking and vertically yielding movements of the pocket 8 on its fulcrums 9 during grinding. The said pocket 8 is preferably provided at its end with a ring 19 which may be engaged by any suitable hoisting hook or device, as 20, so that the trough or pocket 8 may be swung from beneath the stone, for the purpose of clearing, or to permit access to the stone, if necessity arises. The said pocket 8 is provided in its bottom with a series of pulp slots or openings 21, and has pulp escape openings 22 in its side walls, and in order that there may be no clogging of the pulp at the end of the trough, the resistance bar 13 is (see Fig. 2) provided with notches 23 through which the pulp may escape.

In operation, the wood is fed to the open end of the pocket 8 by means of a chute (not shown), which may lead from the saw table where the blocks are formed, and such blocks will feed downwardly automatically into the eccentric cavity beneath the stone. Immediately the stone begins to act upon the contents of the pocket, it will tend to force the material downwardly and forwardly in the pocket where it will be firmly held, forced into grinding contact with the stone, and subjectedjo a constant reducing action; the pulp, as it is made, escaping through the pulp openings in the bottom and sides of the trough; it being understood, of course, that water will be supplied to the stone in any suitable manner, as is customary in grinders of this type.

In order that the wood in the pocket 8 may not clog the openings 21 in the bottom of the trough as it is forced downwardly by the stone and fed forward, I preferably provide said pocket 8 with longitudinally arranged supporting. ribs 2%, which serve to hold the wood away from the pulp openings in the bottom of the trough, and so allow the ready escape of pulp therethrough.

The wood, as has been stated, passes down a suitable chute (not shown) into the pocket 8, the blocks feeding down by gravity beneath the stone, and in order to give a posi tive feed as well as regulate this feed it necessary I may provide a toothed sprocket chain 25, see Fig. 1, mounted on sprockets 26 on the bottom of the pocket, the teeth or carrier lugs 27 on the chain projecting through slots in the pocket so as to engage the blocks and carry them positively forward, and said sprocket chain may be driven in any suitable manner, as by means of a gear wheel 28 shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which gear is connected with any suitable drive which may be regulated so as to vary the speed of the chain at will, and so force the blocks forward or slow their feed down as may be desired, and thus the feed to the stone may be conveniently regulated.

The pocket 8 being fulcrumed on the pins 9 eccentrically to the vertical center of the stone, as shown, and having a yielding movement, will sufliciently relieve the grinding instrumentalities from excessive strain as the wood crowds into theeccentric cavity to eliminate danger of jamming and breakage, while at the same time it will insure the proper contact of the wood with the grinding surface to effect reduction of the wood.

As may be readily understood from the l x l I foregoing description, when the wooden blocks or other pieces of stock are fed into the machine and operated upon by the grinding member 5, said grinding member, by its rotation, has a tendency to force the stock against the pocket. The incoming load however will tend to exert more or less pressure on the pocket in the direction of the spring rods 17, which forces the pocket against the cross bar 16 thereby effecting a slight pivotal displacement of said pocket on the fulcrum pins 9 as a center; causing the pocket to hug the stone and hold the load in intimate contact therewith whereby the downward pressure of the stone on the load in process of grinding is counter-balanced by the pivotal displacement of the pocket by the incoming load. The pocket has a further yielding movement which takes place in the direction of the vertical limbs of the fulcrum pins 9, by reason of the play of the pins in the slotted bearings 10 against the tension of the springs 11 whereby jamming of the load. in the space between the pocket and the grinding stones is prevented.

The spring mechanism supporting the pocket is adapted to yield under pressure to permit the movements just mentioned,

and is so proportioned as to exert, while in action, a maximum tension greater than the weight of the revoluble grinding member. The upward spring pressure exerted against the underside of the stock by the pocket therefore opposes, to a greater or lesser extent, the downward pressure exerted by the weight of the revoluble grinding member upon the upper side of the stock, and in so doing diminishes the friction of the revoluble member upon its bearings. Moreover, the spring supports for the pocket being adjustable to any desired extent and independently of each other, the upward pressure of the stock against the rinding member is correspondingly adjustl ble both as toits in tensity in different parts of the pocket, and its two separate directions or any component thereof relatively to the position of the grinding member.

In adjusting the resistance bar 13 upon its pivotal supports 14, as above described, the adjusting bolts 15 are moved slightly in the general direction of their length. The adjustment of the resistance bar 13 is in a direction crossing its own length and parallel with the plane of the fulcrum pins 11, thus coinciding in direction with one of the general movements of the pocket above described; that is, the movement correspond-- ing roughly with the general path of travel. for the stock.

As may be understood from Fig. 2, the pocket 8 is clear of the framework, therefore, the pocket is rendered free to turn upon the inner ends of the fulcrum pins 9, and if the hinged covers 7 be thrown back,

the pocket may be tilted to any desired extent, in a clockwise direction accordingto Fig. 1, or even practically inverted. The pocket in being thustilted or turned is brought in front of the grinding member, and rendered accessible for the purpose of clearing obstructions from within it.-

It will be understood that such changes and mechanical expedients as are within the skill of the mechanician may be made in the structure disclosed, without departin from the spirit of my invention, and I do not, therefore, limit myself to any of the details of construction shown and described, except so far as I am limited by the terms of the appended claims and the art to which the invention belongs.

Having thus described my invention, 1

claim 1. In a wood pulp rinder and in combination, a rotary grinding stone, a wood-reeeiving trough or pocket having an eccentric cavity in which said stone runs, inclined fulcrum pins on which said trough is hung, yielding mountings for said pins, an adjustable resistance bar against which said trough bears at one end, and a yielding supporting bar having anti-friction devices for the other end of said trough.

2. In a wood pulp grinder and in combination, supporting side frames, a rotary grinding stone journaled therein, fulcrum housings on said side frames, fulcrum pins yieldingly mounted in said housings, a wood-receiving trough or pocket having pulp escape openings suspended from said fulcrum pins, a resistance bar having pulpescape notches against which said trough bears at one end, and a yielding roller-carrying bar to support the other end of said trough.

3. In a wood pulp grinder, the combination with a frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket yieldingly mounted in bearings adjacent to said grinding member and adapted to hold a supply of stock thereagainst, said pocket being pivotally displaceable in a plane coinciding with the plane of its bearings, means for limiting the body movement of said pocket, a spring mechanism for'retarding said pocket, the pocket being adapted to be pressed toward said revoluble grinding member in a direction lateral to the general path of travel of said stock.

4t. In a wood pulp grinder, the combination of a frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket mounted in bearings adjacent to said grinding memher and adapted to hold a supply of stock thereagainst, said pocket having a yielding movement in the direction of said bearings, means for retracting said pocket after such movement, a resistance bar for limiting the r travel of said pocket as thus retracted, said resistance bar slidably engaging said pocket and means for adjusting the position of said resistance bar relatively to the path of movement of said pocket.

5. In a wood pulp grinder, the combination with a frame, a revoluble grinding member j ournaled thereupon, a pocket yieldingly mounted in bearings adjacent to said grinding membor and adapted to press a supply of stock thereagainst, said pocket being pivotally displaccable in the plane of its bearings by excessive pressure of the stock, a resistance bar for limiting the movement of said pocket, and means controllable at will for adjusting the position of said bar relatively to the proximate path of travel of said stock.

(3. A device of the character described, comprising a frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket yieldingly mounted in bearings adjacent to said grinding member and adapted to hold a supply of stock thereagainst, said pocket being pivotally displaceable in the plane of its bearings by excessive pressure of the stock, a resistance bar for limiting the movement of said pocket in one direction, spring mechanism for retracting said pocket after such movement, means controllable at will for tensioning said spring mechanism, and spring mechanism connected with said spring and with said pocket for permitting said pocket to yield under working pressure of the stock against the grinding member in a direction independent of the general path of travel of said stock.

7. A device of the character described, comprising a frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket dis posed adjacent to said revoluble grinding member and adapted to swing relatively to the same for the purpose of holding stock against said grinding member, and a feeding device carried by said pocket for facilitating the feed of stock to said grinding member.

8. A device of the character described, comprising a frame, a revoluble grinding member journalcd thereupon and having a pocket supported between said frame and journaled for pivotal displacement upon an axis different from the axis of rotation of said grinding member by excessive pressure of the stock, said body being free to move bodily upon pressure of the stock which it 1 carries in a general direction of travel of said stock, and means for retracting said pocket after each bodily movement in said direction of travel.

9. In a wood pulp grinder, the combinathe axis of rotation of said grinding mem- 7 member upon an axis displaced relatively to the axis of rotation of said grinding member, said pocket being free to move upon said axis as a center by excessive pressure of the stock and being also free to move bodily in a general direction crossing said pat-h of travel, a resistance bar for limiting one of said bodily movements in one direction, and means for adjusting said resistance bar relatively to said last mentioned direction.

11. A Wood pulp grinder comprising a frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket pivotally disposed adjacent to said grinding member for holding stock thereagainst, said pocket be ing pivotally displaceable by excessive pressure of said stock, a resistance bar for limiting said pivotal displacement by said pocket, means controllable at Will for adjusting the position of said resistance bar in order to limit the movement of said pocket, mechanism connected With said resistance bar and sustained by said frame for flexibly supporting said resistance bar.

12. In a Wood pulp grinder, the combination of a supporting frame, a revoluble grinding member journaled thereupon, a pocket disposed adjacent to said grinding member and journaled upon an axis displaced from the axis of rotation of said grinding member, a pair of supporting Wheels carried by said pocket and revoluble relatively to the same, a sprocket chain provided with teeth and meshing With said sprocket Wheels, said sprocket chain extending into said pocket for the purpose of pressing stock against saidrevoluble grinding member. 7

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

JULIUS WM. WALTERS. Witnesses CHARLES J. PFAU, HOWARD MOOMBER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

